Album Review

Pop music seems to have just entered some kind of sledgehammer-licking event horizon, and as her debut, Pure Heroine, makes abundantly clear, Lorde wants out. Rather than perpetuate the unapologetic, arrogant posturing of America's celebrity youth, the 16-year-old singer-songwriter ridicules it—albeit from her own comfortable perch—as empty, self-serving, and utterly absurd nonsense.

But while her disillusionment with the young, trashed, and proud pack is certainly a fresh perspective, Lorde's creative success doesn't hinge solely on skewering the thoughtless decadence of the Rihannas, Ke$has, and Mileys of the world. Instead, what really makes Pure Heroine shine is the deconstruction of their musical conceits. Lorde and her producer/co-writer, the up-and-coming Joel Little, skillfully dismantle the slick, overproduced rigidity that's so prevalent in today's pop, stripping away the glitchiness, breakbeats, and vocal processing that have become so reflexive in the past decade. Taking its production cues largely from Jessie Ware's excellent Devotion, the nihilist pop of Pure Heroine makes a strong case for the less-is-more maxim. What's left is a remarkably unpretentious and almost raw set of vignettes mostly powered by Lorde's modest, affectation-free performances.

Lorde is at her best when taking shots at the empty, materialistic signifiers of status that have become the focal point of modern pop anthems. Raised in the posh beachside haven of New Zealand's Devonport, and up until recently an attendee of the elite Belmont Intermediate School, Lorde is no stranger to privilege, and her disdain for her own status is something she makes abundantly clear throughout Pure Heroine. The title location of "Tennis Court" sounds like a vapid Ivy League hell, especially as she deadpans a tongue-in-cheek "Yeah!" after each verse. "It's a new art form showing people how little we care," she snarks, perfectly damning the wave of banal hedonism most recently celebrated by the MTV Video Music Awards. Album highlight "A World Alone" cuts even deeper, profiling a wasted millennial watching her friends pass her by on the economic rung even though they indulge in the very same self-destructive habits. "Let 'em talk, cause we're dancing in this world alone," she sings over a sad, jagged guitar line, finding a bleak satisfaction in the fact that, in the end, everyone loses.

It's that kind of snide black comedy that lends Pure Heroine its power, stripping the YOLO fantasy of its glitz and glam to reveal it as nothing more than cruel, meaningless vanity. And with an impressive cache of songs under her belt, Lorde is perfectly capable of throwing some much-needed cold water on pop's self-absorbed frenzy of idiocy.

This girl is way too straight-forward about her intentions. I mean, anyone can make a song about not caring about the finer things in life, but she's not giving us any alternative. Does this mean people are going to stop wanting nice cars, clothes, etc? No. This is why Lana Del Rey's Born To Die (phone wont let me italicize) is better than any of those that these pop stars are releasing. Lana's too smart to give into the "banal hedonism" that's always been big in pop music, but she's also too smart to do something like Lorde and just drag on endlessly about how everyone's so materialistic, because she understands the complexity of it all. So instead of doing an album about being anti-materialistic, Lana made an album about the ups and downs of the so-called "good life." And another thing Lorde doesn't get, is that hip-hop (for the most part) is in on the joke of being rich. Terms like "chasing paper" recognize that money, outside of it's context, is meaningless. Just a piece of paper, that's assigned value by society. And all the shit she's talked about Lana reveals that Lorde has no idea what she's actually even saying, just echoing the opinions of people who didn't see the irony in Lana's album. So the people Lorde has been criticizing are in on the joke that she, unfortunately, doesn't get. Of course I do like a couple tracks ("A World Alone" is a particular highlight) and Lorde is more successful when focusing on the perils of growing up and trying to find one's place in the world.

Posted by denvercash77 on 2013-11-05 10:37:24

she takes all the fun out of pop music

Posted by hkq999 on 2013-11-05 03:03:58

aucklanders are super priviledged in my country, they take all the money. Belmont intermediate does sound posh doesnt it and it will be its in auckland

Posted by spotty on 2013-10-04 00:23:12

death to the princess gimmicks of female pop singers. so cheesy and self obsessed.

Posted by hoodoo on 2013-10-03 17:33:01

shes only saying what people are thinking! the current state of pop music is atrocious and its most popular stars no better. shes no phoney cock sucking princess trying to lodge herself up the ass of anyone who will have her. does she have to be like selena gomez or taylor swift? act all sweet and innocent to gain more support? lorde should probably leave out names at this point but other than that girls can easily look up to her, and should.

Posted by hoodoo on 2013-10-03 17:18:50

yeah! why cant she just take her clothes off and yell about partying like everyone else! sooo arrogant

Posted by Zzz on 2013-10-02 06:16:19

Nice review, I think you articulated a lot of what I find compelling about Lorde. I kind of like the idea of this mopey chick savaging her rival pop princesses over their vapid images while unapologetically advancing her own campaign for "Queen Bee." Production and vocals are great too, a really strong debut.

Posted by A Park on 2013-10-01 14:41:41

Too bad she shit talks other artists more than Azealia Banks. Her lyricism and mannerisms also come off as pretentious and arrogant.